Revealing the Correlation between Altered Skin Lipids Composition and Skin Disorders

Abstract

Human skin layers serve as a barrier between the body and the environment, by preventing water loss and blocking the entry of chemicals, allergens, and microbes. Recent data showed that skin lipids are vital ‘key players’ of several functions and mechanisms performing in the skin, such as, barrier function and microbiome composition. Abnormalities in lipid composition have been observed in inflammatory cutaneous diseases with a disrupted skin barrier. This review aims to demonstrate the fundamental role of keratinocytes, sebocytes, and microbiome-derived lipids in the maintenance of the skin barrier. Furthermore, it would reveal the correlation between altered skin lipids’ composition, microbiome, and the occurrence of certain dermatological disorders such as acne vulgaris, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and rosacea.

Effect of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Ceramides Supplementation on Improving Skin Barrier Functions and Depigmentation: An Open-Label Prospective Study

“…Although specific roles of sebum are yet to be fully established, the composition of sebum suggests its possible role in formation of skin barrier, anti-fungal properties, anti-bacterial properties, and moderation of cutaneous inflammation [5,33]. Disruption of sebum compositions has been associated with various cutaneous diseases such as acne vulgaris, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and rosacea [34]. The underlying mechanism of sebum production induced by RC remains unclear, but it is believed to be associated with the increase in ceramides production following RC consumption.…”

Considering Phytosphingosine-Based Ceramide Formulations for Atopic Skin Care

“…The outermost layer of the skin's epidermis, the SC, or the so-called 'dead layer' [4], is composed of two discrete structural components, each distinctively related to the functionality of the SC [2,3]: (1) polygonal-shaped, fully differentiated, non-nucleated and dead keratinocytes known as corneocytes (considered as the SC 'building blocks'), and (2) a lipid matrix (considered as the SC 'cement mixture or glue mixture') that fills the gaps between corneocytes in order to hold them in place [2,3]. In comparison with an average skin thickness of 1.2-1.3 mm [3], the SC is only 10-30 µm thick [2,6] and consists of approximately 15-20 highly ordered layers of interconnected corneocytes [2,7] intertwined within a complex mixture of lipids arranged in highly ordered and coherent multilamellar lipid sheets [2,3]. Corneocytes adhere tightly to each other through corneodesmosomes to form a barrier that is responsible for the skin's mechanical strength and stiffness.…”

“…CER nomenclature is based on different combinations and arrangements of the fatty acyl chains/FAs and SBs (Figure 2A,B). In mammals, including humans [35], the SB that contains a polar head group and a non-polar tail group may exist in five types: (1) sphingosine (S), ( 2) phytosphingosine (P), (3) 6-hydroxysphingosine (H), ( 4) dihydrosphingosine (DS), or (5) 4,14-sphingadiene (SD) [3,6,18,[43][44][45][46][47] (Figure 2B). The fatty acyl chain/FA moieties may exist in four types: (1) non-hydroxy fatty acyl chain (N), (2) α-hydroxy fatty acyl chain (A), (3) ω-hydroxy fatty acyl chain (O), or (4) esterified ω-hydroxy fatty acyl chain (EO) [3,6,18,[43][44][45][46][47] (Figure 2B).…”

Impact of solid lipid nanoparticles on 3T3 fibroblasts viability and lipid profile: The effect of curcumin and resveratrol loading

“…Targeting altered lipid metabolic pathways (FA biosynthesis and desaturation, phospholipids and cholesterol metabolism, and lipid droplet synthesis) has become a promising anticancer strategy (Liu et al, 2017 ; Rosa et al, 2019 ; Santos & Schulze, 2012 ). Moreover FA, in a free form or incorporated into complex lipids, are crucial to proper functions of the epidermis and its appendages (Lin & Khnykin, 2014 ), and the alteration of skin lipid composition can lead to several dermatological disorders (Drakou et al, 2021 ). Several phenolic compounds act through the membranes by interacting with membrane lipids and changing the general lipid membrane biophysical properties (structure, organization, fluidity, and packing), membrane dynamics, and the expression of lipogenic enzymes involved in FA metabolism (Kühn et al, 2018 ; Reis & de Freitas, 2020 ; Rosa et al, 2020 ).…”